Living green has gotten red hot.

Eco-friendly furniture was showcased last month in the Greenstyle Pavilion at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C.

Kimberly Smith/Staff Photographer (ENLARGE)

Interior designer Jillian Pritchard Cooke at home in the Garden Hills neighborhood of Atlanta in the eco-friendly furnished living room

RELATED • PHOTOS Home Improvement Preservation awards recognize the belles of the block  Amy's house: A fabulous renovation  Your guide to eco-friendly home furnishings  One-story becomes much bigger two-story  Homeowners, landscape contractors can ensure a happy union  Removing texture paint  Trio's round-robin arrangement helps them decorate homes  'Health House' showcases ways to breathe easier  Smyrna woman featured in book after remodeling home  Do the math before renovating your kitchen  Ten Thousand ways to help combat poverty  Ten Thousand ways to help combat poverty  Inspired by her handy folks, a can-do Atlantan tackles her Underwood Hills home  'Special' deal proves that success is in the details  Thinking it through  Keep the roof in tip-top shape  A PAINT PRIMER  Inside or out, make the best choice  Don't skimp when upgrading electrical system  Installing a fireplace  To save, look to attic  Special touches add that 'dream' element  As sales cool, equity loans finance projects  Euro style  cutting-edge yet practical, too  Wood: To paint or not to paint  Making great use of a multipurpose room  See the light: Treat windows with respect they deserve

Meanwhile, HGTV is developing programs that focus on eco-friendly designs, products and lifestyles.

And trendy magazines such as Town & Country, Vanity Fair and Domino have devoted entire issues on how to live, eat, decorate and dress green.

All this makes Jillian Pritchard Cooke smile. She's used to interest in eco-friendly living spiking around Earth Day, but now being kind to the environment is becoming a way of life 24/7/365.

"People like myself in their 40s were there at the beginning of the Earth Day movement," says Cooke, president of Des-Syn, a national interior design firm that specializes in eco-sensitive residential and commercial spaces.

"Scientific reports and global warming are causing folks to jump on the green bandwagon. We're not going away."

For Cooke, being kind to Mother Earth starts in her Atlanta home. She selects furnishings made of natural fibers, avoids items with stains that emit toxic fumes, uses interior paint that has no or low volatile organic compounds, cleans with chemical-free detergents and follows the environmentalists' motto to reuse, reduce and recycle.

"My favorite thing," says Cooke, "is to look at something and say: 'Today you are a foundry wheel, tomorrow you're going to be a lamp. Today you are an oyster rod. Tomorrow you're going to be a coffee table."

Here are other ways, says Cooke, to make a home green:

• Shop locally for furniture and home accent pieces. The gas and fossil fuel used to ship them here pollute the environment. When buying from a furniture showroom, purchase items already in stock and avoid special orders that are shipped from afar.

• Exceptions, Cooke says, can be made if the retailer is an eco-friendly company. "If it is a very reputable green company, and they are doing more for the environment long term and it's less impactful for them to ship to a certain city, absolutely go with the green company," she adds.

• When buying upholstered furniture or having it custom made, select fabric that is either organic or 100 percent sustainable, such as cotton, linen, wool, silk, jute, hemp or bamboo.

• Choose furnishings that are finished with a stain that does not contain formaldehyde and a paint with low volatile organic compounds.

• Avoid new furnishings that contain foam. "If that sofa does end up in a landfill, you want it to disintegrate," Cooke says. However, if you already own sofas and chairs filled with foam, or acquire ones second hand, it's better to reupholster them in a natural fabric than to throw them out.

• Look for second hand, found or antique objects that can be repurposed or revived in your home.

"If it's vintage, then you've already achieved green integrity because you're recycling, reclaiming and reusing," Cooke explains.

• If you remodel the kitchen or build a new house, consider cabinets made of hay or forest certified wood.

• Green flooring options include unglazed ceramic or Terra Firma tile, carpet made from 100 percent wool, sisal, jute, seagrass or bamboo.

• Instead of throwing away old jeans, shirts and other garments, use the fabric to cover pillows, make quilts or sew into curtains. For example, old linen and table cloths can be made into shower curtains. Not everything advertised as green really is.

Products are considered "green-washed" if they have one eco-sensitive benefit, but also contain a host of other negatives that wash out any positive impact on the environment.

Cooke's advice on how to avoid green-washing:

• Ask the retailer for the name of the manufacturer and go online to the company Web site. "Those who are touting what they're doing is environmentally sensitive can back it up," Cook says.

• Do your homework.

Look for products that come from a certified sustainable forest. Find out the type of paint, stain, fillers and other building materials that were used in production. If the retailer doesn't know, the manufacturer should.

"You've got to ask the questions," Cooke adds. "I don't believe you're ever going to get 100 percent green interiors. The integrity starts with you. If you discover something that's green washed, ask yourself how much green wash it is."

For more eco-friendly tips, check out: "True Green: 100 Everyday Ways You Can Contribute to a Healthier Planet," by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin (National Geographic, $19.95) and www.betruegreen.com.